Trainer Robert D’Mellow who has had a quite season so far, made his presence felt on Thursday at the Mahalaxmi, saddling two fluent winners in The Raza Ali Plate and the Vallabhdas Adwalia Trophy (Div I). Solid Black (Aadesh), aptly named for his shiny dark bay coat, was well settled along the rails up with the front runners. On turning for home, favorite Gypsy Queen led briefly and Top Action began to challenge. Very soon the others were charging front and Black Dahlia (Narredu) joined in the fight even as Liquidator (Rajendra) was coming alongside. Solid Black poked through the gap between horses and once he got a clear passage, Solid Black collared them all and won readily by a good two lengths. The others finished in a huddle close to each other. Among them, San Jose needs mention as firstly she got off to a slow start and then in the straight was the widest one out covering a lot of ground to make it in the frame. Liquidator raised hopes midway in the straight but both, Black Dahlia and San Jose passed him quite squarely. Solid Black’s victory was impressive and he is more likely to be prominent in his next outing as well. Top Action was all out and worked hard to earn the place money. The winner was quoted at longer odds in the ring.

Cosmic Flower (Riyaz), Robert’s second winner of the day was the first favorite at around 2/1. The top weight did not have it as easy and only a final speedy burst in the last 100 m got her home. Traveling on the fence till well into the straight, Cosmic Flower was urged to catch up with Mister Fixit (Zameer) who threatened to run away with the race after turning homewards with a handy 3 length lead and was gamely kicking on.  Jockey Riyaz maneuvered the favorite well between horses and the moment Cosmic Flower broke free, she came alive with a surging run to easily pass the leader and post a facile victory. The ease with which she won didn’t look likely midway up the straight given the impost of 60.5 kg she was carrying and the fact that she was galloping in the traffic. Catalunya (Chinoy) gained little and remained third. Toofan Mail was there and there while the others including True Elegance failed to impress.

The day began with the Hormuz Antia trained Tullamore (M.Narredu) being backed heavily to win the first race. Malesh kept Tullamore in the fourth till turn and without any fuss surged past the front runners and had the race well sewn up long way from home. This was a mediocre bunch and Tullamore could not have asked for a weaker opposition. The victory was good but the timing wasn’t. Chopasni came from the rear to finish just behind Gracias Senorita. Consuella who led all the way into the straight was pushed to finish fourth.

Romantic Scene made it start to finish despite Neeraj being dangerously over confident in the final few strides. Party Celebration, after his fluent last start victory was back to his lethargic self. Jockey Daniel Grant had a tough time to wake the sluggish gelding who was also guilty of swerving left on jumping out thus finding himself at the tail end. Through out the journey, Grant was working overtime and Party Celebration was responding as if he was suffering a hangover.
Back to Neeraj, the lad built up a huge lead thanks mainly to the others who did not attempt to catch up until into the straight. Shailesh Shinde astride Ivanka exposed that he did not read the pace well and realized he had too much to do until it was too late. A sharper jockey may have done better and Shailesh will rue the fact when he watches the replay.

 In the straight, Romantic Scene basked on the rather exaggerated lead that he was lucky to enjoy and kept going. Assuming that he was completely out of reach, Neeraj eased his mount much earlier than he should have and almost paid the penalty for his foolhardiness. This is a very risky attitude and grossly unprofessional. The stewards need to advice these young minds and this case calls for at least a reprimand if not a punitive action from the authorities.  Had Shailesh been up to the task, the result would have been different. Both jockeys erred in doing their job but luckily for Romantic Scene, it did not cost him the race; it did, to Ivanka.

Veera Wang (TS Jodha) became the favorite after the odds drifted alarmingly on Snow Blind. Incidentally, in trying too hard, the normally safe Grant dropped his whip at a crucial juncture when the fight was peaking with Veera Wang in full flight. Elementto Style led them into the straight and soon had Snow Blind joining alongside. The duo passed the 400 m mark together when Jodha switched Veera Wang on the outside and began riding out. Veera Wang gathered momentum nearing the distance post and easily surged past the front running pair to register a three lengths something victory. Snow Blind was lucky to come into place money as she was pegged back by Elementto Style and very nearly gave in to Musical Rhythm who was just a head behind at the post.

The Mount Everest Trophy was a fiercely fought race and all credit goes to jockey Dasharath Singh who was relentless all the way to the wire foxing the young and learning Shailesh astride favorite Queens Court. Medtias Pride soon took over in the straight and was joined by Queens Court at the distance post. From there on began an absorbing dual and at one stage it looked like Queens Court had the measure of Medtias Pride. However, Dasharath had different ideas and his unyielding strong urging got the bob of the head spot on at the winning post. Queens Court was genuinely unlucky and was shocked on the post. The verdict was too close and the humdinger was a delight to watch. This was one race which endorsed the adage – “it’s never over till its over”! Are you reading this Mr. Shailesh Shinde?

Firefoot (Rajendra) scorched the turf when he burst on to the scene and flew past the front bunch. Heifitz disappointed and is best left alone until he shows some form. Firefoot was racing in the mid bunch and Rajendra improved position steadily. On turning for home, Tantrik led and Blazing Speed, Algo Mas and Really Romantic were closing in. Firefoot came up with a terrific turn of foot and zipped past them all giving no chance whatsoever for any of the contenders to even attempt to put in any resistance. Firefoot proved just too good for the opposition and there were a long list of 16 runners. With the manner of victory displayed by Firefoot, an encore looks inevitable.

The Rebel (Kishore) pulled off a good gamble for Trainer Rehanulla Khan’s stable. The well backed favorite was ready to strike turning for home and easily caught up with the front running Grey Storm (Vikram) and although the verdict showed only half a length, The Rebel won quite comfortably. Artillery (Fargeat) did come up fast towards the finish but could only put his neck in front of Grey Storm for the runner up berth. Phi completed the frame.